Knowing how to overcome stage fright is critical to the success of your presentation and career. This is because stage fright can ruin a perfectly written speech or presentation in split seconds.
For you, stage fright might not be as obvious as shaking hands, stuttering, or skipping words. It may just be that ugly feeling in your stomach that makes you want to run into the bathroom and throw up. Whatever stage fright means to you, it needs to be seriously dealt with. Judy Blume quotes “Each of us must confront our fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.” .
DOES STAGE FRIGHT GO AWAY
Have you closely observed the process that surrounds stage fright? For those who have, you notice that before the presentation, you feel like you are going to choke, and scary images of you messing up your presentations play in your head. All these things are happening inside your head and will follow you to the stage.
Stage fright is usually intense at the beginning of every presentation. It begins to reduce when you are in the middle of your presentation and eventually leaves you at the end of the presentation.
So to answer your question, yes stage fright can go away, at the time you want it to go. Stage fright is a cousin to fear and if you entertain it, it takes its seat. But if you choose to usher it out immediately, it takes its leave.
I can hear you say that it is not as easy as you say it, well you are right, that’s why you need to know what causes stage fright?
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF STAGE FRIGHT?
According to top doctors.co.uk, stage fright is associated with social phobia, which is characterized by the following cognitive errors:
- Unrealistic assessment of what is expected of you
- Underestimation of your capabilities
- Overestimation of the opinion of others
- Unrealistic expectations of others’ responses to anxiety
- Overestimation of the idea of rejection.
Other causes of stage fright include past failures, poor and inadequate preparation, and poor breathing habits. Now that you know the causes, let’s look at how you can overcome stage fright.
5 SIMPLE WAYS TO OVERCOME STAGE FRIGHT
Overcoming stage fright begins with discussing your fears with your friend, colleague, or your partner. Fear is strengthened in secrecy, so get it out. The following easy tips will help you overcome stage fright:
GET THE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS OUT
Stage fright begins and ends with you. Overcoming stage fright will require that you get the what if’s out of the way. Get the what if I don’t perform well? What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t listen to me? questions out of the way. Negative thoughts breed stage fright, so stay positive.
VISUALIZE A POSITIVE OUTCOME
After getting the negative thoughts out, you need to see yourself performing well on stage. This is crucial because, if you don’t see yourself doing well, chances are that you won’t do well. You become what you see, so see!!
PREPARE
One of the causes of stage fright is inadequate preparation, so to overcome stage fright you need to pay attention to effective preparation. Take out time to study properly, ensure that your slides are well organized and your speech was correctly written. Being prepared makes it easy for you to kick fear in the ass when it comes knocking in your thoughts.
FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE
Every presentation is to enlighten, educate or entertain your audience. It has nothing to do with how you feel. So, think for your audience, come with ideas that will benefit them. Prioritizing your audience is the best way to overcome stage fright.
RELAX
You need to explore different ways to keep your body and mind calm. So to overcome stage fright, eat and exercise properly, sleep well, and engage in relaxation practices. When your mind and body are calm, stage fright won’t find a dwelling place.
